


Gotta Keep Your Head Up

by otaku_lady89



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Adoption, Bullying, F/M, Family Feels, Gen, Greivous Abuse of Pans, Humanstuck, Orphans
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-07-22
Updated: 2013-07-22
Packaged: 2017-12-21 00:06:36
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,212
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/893490
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/otaku_lady89/pseuds/otaku_lady89
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Times are hard, but Nepeta is determined to do right by Equius. After all. They're family.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Gotta Keep Your Head Up

**Author's Note:**

> Nepeta is a young adult (~18) and Equius is a little kid (maybe ~9-10). They live in a crappy apartment in a poor neighborhood. Nepeta tries to keep upbeat and silly, even while she's working two jobs, trying to break into the comics industry (or possibly get her degree?) and nursing an unrequited crush for the cute albino boy at the coffee shop she works. Meanwhile, Equius is very serious all the time, chides Nepeta for what he thinks is frivolous behavior, and never lets himself just be a kid, but really, it's just because he's terrified of how uncertain their future is and that is the only real way he knows how to deal with it.
> 
> Bonus: roleplaying used to be a special thing between them, but now Equius thinks he is too old for that.  
> Bonus x2: everyone thinks of Nepeta as being rather silly, but her silliness is how she keeps herself and the people around her happy and optimistic. Under the silliness, she's surprisingly mature.  
> Bonus x3 (related to x2): Equius /thinks/ of himself as the 'adult' in the relationship because of how serious he tries to be all the time, but he can still be quite childish sometimes.
> 
> -Kinkmeme anon.

"Equius! Have you seen my shoes? And my keys are missing too!" Late, late, she was going to be SO. LATE. if she didn't find those shoes! Ugh, damn her check for being so short, and not letting her get a second pair just to be sure. They kept turning up missing whenever she had a shift at the factory. She hated the job, but she needed it. Equius and her both needed it.   
  
When the serious little boy came stomping into the living room, he crossed his arms, an annoyed scowl on his cute little face. Nepeta smiled, the sight of her little charge always enough to bring a purr to her voice. Then she paused, and frowned, remembering she was mad at him at the moment. "I do not know where they are, Nepeta. Perhaps if you took better care of your things you would not lose them."

He shifted, adjusting the backpack on his back, his cleats in place on his own feet, and those weird sunglasses he's had since forever on his face. The eighteen year old woman sighed, stepping forward and brushing some of his long dark hair behind his ear. She hadn't been able to afford a haircut for either of them this year. He insisted he liked long hair, but... Her own was starting to look like her mother's had. She hated it.

"Oh come on, Equihiss. I need my shoes. I have mew go to work!" She giggled, puns that used to make him smile, make him laugh and call her silly. Now his scowl only deepened, and he stormed past her.   
  
"I will be home at three pm sharp. Dinner will be ready at seven, as per usual. Please attempt not to be late again." He huffed, before dissapearing out to catch the bus. Nepeta let her smile fall off, and the heaviness on her shoulders doubled. She felt so bad about being late for dinner, and she apologised every time, but...Well, the social worker lady had been right. Children needed tons of attention, and she just couldn't give Equius all of what he needed. Not AND keep a roof over their head. Maybe... Maybe she shouldn't have tried to take him in as soon as she got out of fostercare. But... he needed her. They were all each other had. She took a deep breath, steeled herself, and went back to finding her shoes.  
  
They were under the sink. In the kitchen. She hadn't been under the sink in weeks, not since that leak that they'd had to call the plumber for. She sighed. Equius was hiding them. He must be... Pulling them on, she sighed. It was her own fault, for telling him about the accidents that had been happening at work recently. It wasn't like the job was really dangerous! Not if you did it right anyway. Killing a cow and slaughtering it was pretty easy. Most of it was automated.

Her keys were in the fruitbowl. She didn't even know they HAD a fruitbowl. Huh. And out the door she went, running down the street, her kitty-ear hat secure on her head.

 

* * *

Unlike his adoptive sister, Equius was never late. He always arrived five minutes before each class started, and sat, quietly, waiting for the teacher. He never had to spend this time on his homework, because he did his homework the night before, while Nepeta was still at work. He hated those moments of silence, when she wasn't there. He wanted her to come home.  
  
He couldn't abide her working so hard for his sake. It was wrong. He did everything he could to help though. Laundry, cleaning, cooking. Anything he could do to make it easier on her, he did. And Nepeta never complained. She never cried over the bruises she got from the cattle. She never whined when one of the idiots at the coffee shop spilled something on her hands. Nepeta was the light of his world, and it seemed like no one but him realised how much of a treasure she was.

On any normal day, like clockwork, this would be the moment SHE would interupt him, tugging him to the side to see Billious Slick wake up for the morning, or to read over the new chapter book Miss Maryam assigned them. But... Aradia wasn't here. She'd been hurt. Really bad. By a very bad person. Miss Maryam had told them about it and no one was allowed to go home alone any longer. Equius still walked home alone. No one wanted to walk with him. He made sure to sign Nepeta's signature for her, so she wouldn't worry about the notice the school sent home.

"Hey, horseboy! Whatcha thinkin bout?" One of the classroom boys hissed just below Miss Maryam's voice. Equius endeavored to ignore him.  
  
"HEY. don't ignore us!" the boy behind him hissed, and kicked the back of Equius' chair. He tried to remember Nepeta's smile this morning, thinking about what he should make for dinner. The ten year old thought that maybe something with the beef in the fridge. Luckily, Nepeta got tons of it for cheap, from the cattle-factory she worked at. It was effective to use it quickly.  
  
Another kick, this time actually shoving Equius' chair across the floor a little. The sound grated, making everyone turn and look at the Zahhak child. He swallowed, starting to sweat, just a little, under his collar. Everyone was looking at him. This was ludicrous. He hadn't done anything wrong. He hadn't done anything.   
  


"Please try and stay still, Mr. Zahhak. I promise, recess is almost here." Miss Maryam promised calmly. Equius felt color coming to his face, and his whole body tightened, and he felt that same kind of fear he had when the nuns told him he was naughty and needed to be punished, or the devil will take his soul to hell. His throat clenched tight and all he could do was give a jerky nod.   
  


* * *

"LATE AGAIN, Leijon! What the HELL is wrong with you?!" Her supervisor hissed, snatching Nepeta's arm and making her wince. She swallowed, smiling a little, "S-Sorry, sir. My son, he uh... Well, he hid my shoes! hehehe, c-can you purrleave it?" She offered, shrugging, "Cubs, what can ya do, right?"  
  
Clearly the man held no sympathy. Gritting his teeth, he drew himself up, and Nepeta couldn't help but notice his bald spot. She found herself giggling at the most dumb moment. She knew she should be apologising, being serious at the moment. She should be trying to keep her job, but it was just so FUNNY, because she could SEE herself in it!  
  
"That's it Leijon. Go home. And don't bother coming back. Your last check will be in the mail." She was shoved away, and fear and terror swept through her body.   
  
"W-Wait, please, I didn't mean to laugh. It's just-no, wait, really-!" He didn't give her a chance to explain, didn't give her anything. Security was walking her out, and  before Nepeta knew it... she was standing on the corner. A car sped by, dust carrying behind it. She laughed. Well. It was more like a hiccup than a laugh. And that laugh quickly turned to tears. What was she going to do? The coffee shop job didn't make nearly enough to actually support her kid. Equius had schoolbooks he needed, clothes. He was outgrowing EVERYTHING, and she couldn't... she... oh god. She was going to lose him.  
  
She didn't have anyone she could call, not really. So she called the coffee shop from the payphone at the seven eleven. She asked the boss if they had an extra shift she could work that night, and the boss said sure, yeah, ampora never showed. if you can come in now, that'd be great! She gave an affirmative, and started walking. By the time she got to the cafe, she was freshly out of tears, and smiling again. She had managed to pull herself together. She'd... She'd figure out something. She always did.  
  
"Hey karkitty!" She giggled, waving a hello to her fellow coworker and subtle crush. He rolled his eyes, and muttered something about it being, "Fuckdamned time somebody got their gluteal muscles in orbit and helped his sorry ass." She grinned, and put on her apron, and got right to work. 

A few hours later, she was clocking out, and Karkat offered her a ride home in his beat up old pinto. She gladly accepted. Maybe this day wasn't turning out so bad after all! When she got out in front of her apartment, it was the same time the bus pulled up from school, and she and Equius stared at each other for a moment, before her coworker realised how fucking awkward it was sitting outside someone's apartment, and beat a hasty retreat.   
  
"Equihiss! Welcome home!" She purred, running forward and giving her little man a big hug. He looked decidedly uncomfortable, and he could just hear what the other boys would say tomorrow. Pushing her away, roughly, he frowned. "What are you doing home so early? And why was Karkat giving you a ride? You don't work at the cafe until tomorrow."  
  
She laughed, nervously, and rubbed at the back of her head. "There were some uh... some stuff happurrned, and I took a shift at the cafe!"  
  
"...You got fired, didn't you." 

She flinched. His voice sounded so cold. Like he was dissapointed in her. She turned her head so he wouldn't see the tears building up in her eyes again.  "Afurrmative."  
  
He didn't even wait for her. He just stormed up the stairs and into their apartment. She stumbled after him, worried. Was he mad at her? She'd tried her hardest... Hell, if HE hadn't hidden her shoes, she wouldn't have BEEN late in the first place! She stepped into the house, and closed the door behind her. Leaning against it, she sighed, wondering how to approach this with him banging around in the kitchen. She hoped he didn't break a pot, like he did last time he was mad.   
  
"The purroud huntress returns furrom the hunt, defeated. She wondpurrs if her cub is upset by this sad purrn of events."  
  
"STOP this! It's STUPID." Equius roared, slamming the pot down with enough force to break the handle off, causing Nepeta to jump, and stare, wide eyed. "I'm not FIVE, Nepeta, I'm not going to listen to you go on as if you're some... some... LIONESS, when you ARE. NOT. you are an adult, so start ACTING like one!"  
  
Nepeta couldn't believe this. This... This physically HURT. To hear Equius, who she used to play with like this all the time, talk to her like this. Like... Like SHE was the child here. She swallowed a lump in her throat, and grit her teeth. "I AM acting like an adult Equius. I work TWO jobs, so that we can have food. I get up at four in the morning, every morning, so that I can go to work, and then I come home at ten oclock at night, so that we have a place to sleep. What more do you want from me?"  
  
The ten year old was at a loss. He... He didn't know how to answer that. Glaring sullenly at her, he grit his teeth, too. Several were still missing from his adult set. Nepeta kept saying they'd grow in soon. He hoped so. "Do you know how everyone TREATS me, at school? They call you a retard, Nepeta. They keep saying that you're stupid, and that because YOU are my gaurdian, I must be stupid as well!"  
  
"...I'm sorry, Equius... But you know that's not true. I'm not stupid. and neither are you." She murmured. God, what the hell was going on anymore. What could she tell her poor little kitten. She sighed, stepping forward, and wrapping Equius in a hug. His shoulders started shaking, and she knew he was trying not to cry. Petting his hair softly, she sighed. "We'll get through this. We always do. Keep your chin up, nyah?" She nuzzled his hair, and sighed, feeling his fists ball into her shirt. Closing her eyes, she renewed her vow. She was going to make sure Equius had the best life she could give him. She wouldn't abandon him, like Meulin Leijon abandoned her.   
  
"I'm sorry..." It was muffled, but she could hear her little cub murmuring to her. "I'm sorry, Nepeta. I'm so sorry..."  
  
"Shhhh, I furrgive you. Don't be sorry. Effurything will be feline. Mew'll see."   
  


* * *

The next morning, Equius borrowed the neighbors newspaper. He sat down in the morning with Nepeta, and they went over what jobs she should apply for, while having pancakes. They laughed, and joked, and she even managed to get a smile from him. After that, She kissed his cheek, which made him crinkle his nose and grunt in annoyance, as she left for work.   
  
Karkat told her about a friend of his who was looking for a bouncer at a club. Knowing Nepeta liked martial arts, he thought of her. Two days later, she was hired on at Aquarius, one of the best clubs in town. Things were looking up. 


End file.
